eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) Upgraded by StockNews.com to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on eBay from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on eBay from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on eBay from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on eBay from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on eBay from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $49.21.

eBay Stock Performance

EBAY stock opened at $50.25 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $26.03 billion, a PE ratio of 9.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 2.44, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $48.77 and a 200-day moving average of $44.12. eBay has a 12-month low of $37.17 and a 12-month high of $52.93.

eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The e-commerce company reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $2.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.51 billion. eBay had a return on equity of 29.16% and a net margin of 27.36%. eBay’s quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.87 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that eBay will post 3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

eBay announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, February 27th that allows the company to repurchase $2.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the e-commerce company to buy up to 8.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

eBay Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 11th were given a $0.27 dividend. This represents a $1.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 8th. This is an increase from eBay’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. eBay’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Edward O. Garcia sold 1,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $50,129.95. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,888 shares in the company, valued at $1,372,140.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On eBay

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in eBay by 39.8% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,418,131 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $547,516,000 after acquiring an additional 3,534,030 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in shares of eBay by 5.4% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 48,038,931 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $2,131,487,000 after buying an additional 2,464,766 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of eBay by 34.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,839,329 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $254,712,000 after buying an additional 1,491,485 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of eBay by 82.6% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,118,490 shares of the e-commerce company’s stock valued at $138,367,000 after buying an additional 1,410,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of eBay during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,019,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.48% of the company’s stock.

eBay Company Profile

eBay Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates marketplace platforms that connect buyers and sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany, and internationally. The company's marketplace platform includes its online marketplace at ebay.com, off-platform businesses, and the eBay suite of mobile apps.